


Love is the Tuesdays

by Katybug1992



Category: Men's Hockey RPF
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Non-Linear Narrative
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-17
Updated: 2020-08-17
Packaged: 2021-03-06 07:00:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,734
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25959445
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katybug1992/pseuds/Katybug1992
Summary: A true love story isn't just made up of the big moments, but the little moments in between.
Relationships: Jaden Schwartz/Jonathan Toews
Kudos: 10





	Love is the Tuesdays

**Author's Note:**

> Based on the song "Love is the Tuesdays" by Jake Scott, but especially the chorus:
> 
> It's not just picture perfect dancing in a white dress  
> It's not just rainy days when nothing stops the fighting  
> It's not just highs and lows, and champagne toast  
> I've come to know that love's not only the best days  
> Or the worst days  
> Love is the Tuesdays

1.

Jonathan had to choke down the… not fear - because he wasn’t afraid of them. But he knew how much their approval would mean to Jaden. Steen, Perron, and Petro had known Jaden since he was a rookie and Tarasenko… they came up in the League together. Maybe he should have invited Schenn, just to have one friendly face. Because Schenn had been the only voice in Jaden’s ear telling him to go for it from the beginning.

He shook himself out of it and made his way over to their table, gripping his coffee tighter than he normally would have been, feeling a rush of relief when Petro smiled in greeting. Team Canada connections finally paying off.

“Hi, Johnny,” Petro greeted.

“Hi, Petro.” Jonathan nodded, “Thanks for meeting me.”

“It sounded important,” Petro shrugged, having a vague feeling he knew what was going on if Jonathan had wanted to talk to this group of guys.

Deciding to just get it over with, Jonathan took a deep breath and said, “I want to ask Jaden to marry me. But before I do, I want to get the approval of some of the people who mean the most to him.”

And this is the first time Jonathan has ever seen David Perron speechless and Jonathan snarkily notes to himself that someone should document this moment.

“Why?” Steen asked, which isn’t a no - so that’s good.

“Because you guys have known him for a long time and your opinions matter to him. Not that he’s actually said that but..” Jonathan trails off with a shrug. He knows that they know what he means. Jaden Schwartz isn’t exactly one for words, “Look, he didn’t agree to go out with me until Steen realized how much Jaden liked me, right? If he thinks he’s disappointing any of you, then he’s never gonna let himself be happy.”

“I think you’ve shown, over the years, that Jaden is your first priority.” Petro replied slowly, “And that’s gone a long way.”

“I try to introduce him to friends from home - Yana, too - but he still like you. Still choose you.” Vladi added, “He love you, for all your faults.”

“Look, at the end of the day, Jaden is what matters,” Steener looked Jonathan dead in the eyes with an intensity that was kind of scary, “And, for the last couple years, you’ve been what makes him happiest. I don’t understand it. I prefer not to understand it. But it’s there. And I can’t change it. None of us can. But I’m going to reiterate what I told you when you two first got together: If you EVER, ever break his heart, I will make you pay for it.”

Perron looked him dead in the eyes and described in French every detail of what would happen to him should Jaden ever get hurt.

But Jonathan left Starbucks with what he came for and he thought fondly about the ring carefully tucked away and started to plan the proposal.

2.

The wedding planning had been a nightmare. Mostly the seating arrangements had been a nightmare. They both had many friends around the League, some didn’t get along with or like other friends that were invited - and then there was their own teammates, who didn’t like each other either. It was a hassle and Jaden had had to wrangle a promise from Schenner to behave himself around Crosby - Jonathan was pretty sure there was a promise that involved naming their first born after Schenn and that was not going to happen.

But everything went smoothly - although Jaden decided to seriously stress about the wedding THAT DAY and it was definitely Schenner’s fault - and now they were being called onto the dancefloor for their first dance as a married couple.

And Jonathan couldn’t wipe the grin off his face as he looked down at Jaden and pulled him closer. Jaden had been against the sappy song that Jonathan had wanted but had relented, knowing what battles to fight and which to just let go. But as Jaden smiled up at him, Jonathan knew he didn’t really mind the song at all - that he was maybe even happy with the choice.

Jonathan somehow managed to pull Jaden closer, basking in holding this man while all their friends and family watched and he wanted to hold onto this feeling forever because in a month they would have to part ways for training camps and their seasons and wouldn’t really get any quality time until Bye Week (which happened to be the same for both of them this coming season). 

But for now, they had this moment, they had tonight, they had their honeymoon, and they could put off thinking about the season a little more. 

And Jaden laughed and shoved Jonathan’s head away as the older man leaned in to quietly - horribly - sing along. And Jonathan hoped the photographer captured that moment because there was nothing Jonathan loved more than getting a laugh out of Jaden.

3.

It shouldn’t surprise Jonathan. Hockey was a hard sport. Guys got banged up all the time. But seeing the evidence on Jaden’s body made Jonathan see red.

The Blues had just gotten into town from Dallas, they would be playing Chicago the next day and Jaden had gotten permission to stay at Jonathan’s. They were still pretty new to the relationship and it had been mostly at a distance. They’d had a couple hours after their last game against each other but that was pretty much it.

Jonathan had wandered into his bedroom to see what kind of wine Jaden wanted and found Jaden wincing, checking over the many, many bruised that littered his torso. And Jonathan knew it was a rough sport. Jonathan knew that Jaden was one of the Blues’ best players so, of course, his number was circled and guys would target him. But he was also the smallest guy on the ice most of the time, definitely the smallest Blue and he tended to disregard his own safety, but…

“Who?” Jonathan found himself asking, expression hard. After all, Chicago played Dallas next so maybe Jonathan could get some payback.

“Benn,” Jaden replied distractedly, “he was on my ass the entire game.”

“The whole game?”

“Borts got ‘em back, several times. And also almost started a line brawl so, you know, he was happy.”

“You played really well.” Jonathan responded, “I missed the game but saw the highlights. Congrats on your win.”

“Thanks,” Jaden smiled softly over at him, “can’t be easy to say those words.”

“Easier than I thought it would be.”

“You said something about dinner?” Jaden grinned, only wincing a little bit as he pulled a t-shirt over his head.

“You sure you’re okay?”

“I wouldn’t be where I am today if I couldn’t handle hits, Jonathan.” Jaden pressed a soft kiss to his cheek, having to go up on his toes, and said, “Now, dinner. I’m hungry.”

“Well, I hope you weren’t expecting Five-Star cuisine.” Jonathan laughed, taking Jaden’s hand and pulling him toward the kitchen.

“I was already warned.” Jaden chuckled.

“I knew giving Kaner your number was a bad idea.”

“He keeps you humble.”

“He tells you embarrassing stories about me.”

“Just little ones.”

Jonathan laughed and pulled Jaden in, placing a soft kiss on his lips and murmuring, “I’m happy you’re here.”

Jaden’s eyes shone with affection as he replied, “I am, too.”

4.

Jonathan suppressed his groan as Kaner took the microphone and then tried to hide his already red face behind Jaden as Patrick grinned widely at him.

“I’ve known Tazer for a long time now,” Patrick started, shit-eating grin firmly in place, “I have seen him fall in and out of crushes many times. But I had never seen him fall as hard for someone as he did for Jaden. Now, I could go into detail - and feel free to ask me after this - about all the times Johnny completely embarrassed himself just to get a second of Jaden’s attention.

“But I won’t. Right now at least. Instead, I’ll say that Johnny has always been stubborn when he had a goal in mind. And when that goal became winning Jaden over, I knew he would do it - eventually. He still embarrassed himself in the process. I had to taste test many failed meals when he got it in his head that cooking would earn him points. I had to listen to every draft of his proposal only to find out that he didn’t end up using any of them.

“Jaden, the day you agreed to let him take you out was the happiest I had ever seen him. And if you can keep him looking that happy for the rest of his life, then you’re alright in my book.

“Congrats, you guys deserve this.”

Jonathan pressed a kiss to Jaden’s cheek and Kaner gagged into the mic before cackling as Johnny flipped him off.

5.

Their first kiss came before they started hooking up - and way before they actually got together.

A couple of the Blues players had walked into the bar that the Chicago players had picked to go out to after they got settled in the hotel.

And Jonathan couldn’t remember what happened but he did know that he had ended with Jaden pressed against the wall and kissing him - so he really didn’t care about the lead up.

“Come back with me?” Jonathan breathed out, pressing his forehead against the younger man’s.

“No,” Jaden smirked, slipping out from under Jonathan’s body, “but you’re cute.”

And Jonathan could only watch him walk away.

6.

Jonathan had spent the night at Jaden’s, trying to squeeze in as much time together as they could, and had planned on waking Jaden up with kisses - maybe get some morning sex before he had to leave to meet his team at the hotel before skate. But Jaden’s wasn’t there.

So Jonathan groaned and pulled himself out of the bed, throwing on a pair of joggers and heading downstairs - stopping short when he saw Jaden puttering around the kitchen in one of Jonathan’s old UND hoodies and Jonathan didn’t know that seeing his name across Jaden’s back would affect him this much.

When he was able to stuff down the want to throw Jaden over his shoulder and take him back upstairs

“Morning,” Jaden smiled over at him, “I’m making French Toast.”

Jonathan made his way over to Jaden and kissed him lightly before huffing out a laugh and tugging at the hoodie, “How did you get this?”

“I may have stolen it when I was at yours.” Jaden smirked up at him.

“My name looks good on you.”

“Shut up and get the plates down.”

Jonathan laughed as Jaden bit back a smile.

7.

Jonathan waited somewhat patiently for Jaden’s call. He knew his game had only ended an hour ago and he was probably just getting back to the hotel, Netflix pulled up on his tv to pick up where they had left off of Breaking Bad. They had both seen bits and pieces of it but decided to rewatch it together.

He puttered around his kitchen just to have something to do and then scrambled to answer his phone when it went off and vowing to kill Kaner if he was intentionally messing with him but grinned stupidly when he saw Jaden’s name.

“Hey,” he greeted, settling back down on the couch and listen to Jaden get himself settled in the hotel room.

“Hey yourself,” Jaden gave him a tired smile.

Jonathan grinned as he listened to Jaden putter around the room getting ready for bed. They filled that time with mindless conversation about flights and team shenanigans until Jaden was settled down with his computer, their current episode queued up. 

“Press play on the count of three?” Jaden prompted.

Jonathan nodded and settled in for a couple of episodes and mindless commentary.

8.

Their Bye-Weeks lined up and as soon as they saw that, they started planning - wanting to make sure they didn’t end up in the same place as any of their teammates. So they rented an Air B’n’B practically on the beach on Sanibel Island and they enjoyed the fact that it was off-season and such there were very few other people around, much less people who knew who they were. 

And so they were able to act like a couple. They didn’t have to be careful. And that was an amazing feeling.

Especially walking down the almost empty beach as the sun was setting, waves lapping over their feet, joined hands swinging between them as they just basked in each other’s presence. There was no hockey talk allowed and for a little while Jonathan was worried. Because hockey was the main thing they had in common.

But Jaden was easy to talk to. And he was a good listener - he enjoyed listening to Jonathan talk about a book he was reading or a movie he finally got around to seeing. And he called him “Jonathan” - rarely Johnny, never Tazer. Always “Jonathan”. And Jonathan didn’t think he would ever want that, but it was nice and he never wanted to hear anyone else call him that. Because his whole life had been hockey nicknames - and Jaden’s had been, too - but the way his name sounded coming from Jaden’s mouth had quickly become one of his favorite things.

But they also figured out pretty early on that they didn’t need to fill the silences, that it was enough just to be together.

And Jonathan hadn’t known what to expect when Jaden smirked up at him until Jonathan found himself being pushed into the water and Jaden laughed before taking off down the beach.

Jonathan huffed out a laugh and trudged out of the water - impressed with how far Jaden had managed to shove him - before taking off after the shorter male.

When he caught up to him, he wrapped his arms around Jaden’s waist and pulled them both into water and they laughed against each other’s lips before Jaden surged forward and kissed him.

9.

It was Jaden’s turn to groan as Vladi took the mic from Kane.

“I want to say I pull rank to be first to talk, Borts is up next and he plans to embarrass Jaden so...be ready,” Vladi grinned before clearing his throat.

“Schwartzy and I came up together. Every embarrassing Rookie story, I know. Because I was there, too. I was the first person on team Jaden came out to. I was there when he came out to the rest of the team, to coaches. And I was there when he was sad because he thought he would not be able to be happy until he done playing. When he thought about coming out, but did not because he didn’t think he was good enough to survive it - even if our whole would have his back. 

“And I was there when he and Toews started there...thing. Jaden refused to call it a relationship - even if Jaden wasn’t seeing anyone else. What everyone who know Jaden know that he is stubborn, more stubborn than mule. And that he would put everyone else before his own happiness. And Jonathan made him really happy - I knew. But Jaden, Jaden didn’t think he meant anything to Jonathan. 

“And I remember Steener - who has been crying almost all day, in case anyone need to know that - finally told Jaden that he could put himself first. That they would deal with having Toews being apart of his life, because he make Jaden happy. 

“Jonathan make Jaden the happiest I have ever seen him. And sometimes he make cry but he always make up for it.

“It make me happy and proud to see how far Jaden has come since we were Rookies. It make me really happy to see Jaden as happy as he is - even if it is a Blackhawk player who make him this happy. Jaden, if Toews always make you this happy, then we will always tolerate him. 

“As long as you never let your children - or you - wear that awful jersey.”

Jaden laughed and wiped away a tear that he would deny the existence of before getting up and hugging Vladi, laughing at whatever was whispered in his ear and Jonathan couldn’t help but grin at the two of them.


End file.
